Seasonal Tips for April and May - Veg

There’s little more satisfying in the garden than growing your own produce. Late spring (April & May) is the perfect time to start growing. The temperature should be warmer now and this will mean that your seeds require less mollycoddling to get them started, keeping your time and heating bills better utilised. If you are new to growing your own food then try just a handful of crops this year, once you are hooked there’ll be no stopping you.

Check out the wide range of vegetable seeds available from Unwins Seeds. For easy crops to grow in April and May choose a mixed salad seed that can be sown weekly in small pots of compost. You can easily grow enough for several family servings of salad from one packet of seed and you can’t get it any fresher than home sown salad, simply pick it on demand.

Keep vegetable beds weed free. Weeds not only compete for any available food and water, but they also provide shelter for a number of garden pests and diseases. Dig out any perennial weeds making sure to remove all the roots and hoe off any annual weed seedlings as they appear. Always hoe when the soil is slightly dry and on a sunny day so that the uprooted weeds seedlings will quickly wither. Persistent perennial weeds can be carefully treated with Weed Buster. This Glyphosate based weedkiller is systemic, which means it is taken into the plant and transported through the whole plant right down to the roots where it effectively kills every part of the plant. Apply to weed foliage when they are vigorously growing, from April onwards. Take great care not to let the spray drift onto any other plants, as it will kill all plants that it touches. Alternatively choose the new Westland Resolva 24H R This new technology combines the speed of a contact weed killer with the deep down root killing activity of a systemic weedkiller Resolva 24H R works so quickly that you can actually see effects in 24 hours so you really do know it is working.
Keep sowing vegetable seeds. For sowing in pots and trays always be sure to use fresh, clean compost that has been allowed to acclimatise to room temperature. John Innes Seed Sowing Compost with Sure Start is specially formulated to nurture your precious seedlings and cuttings. It’s a loam-based compost with added peat, horticultural grit and nutrients and is the preferred choice of many experienced gardeners.
Keep a close check on seeds sown in early spring. Make sure seedlings are not overcrowded and keep them moist but not over wet. If you’ve sown a few seeds to each pot or module, or if you sown in seed trays then the seedlings will need pricking out, wait until they are large enough to handle.
Feed permanent crops such as herbs, artichokes, and asparagus with Growmore Garden Fertiliser or Feed-all Slow Release Granular plant food.
Protect young vegetable plants from slugs and snails. Employ your preferred method of control. Look out for Westland Slug Blocker and Slug Buster effective ways to deal with slugs and snails.
When crops have finished, such as last season’s sprouts and parsnips, remove all trace of them from the vegetable garden, dig over the area and prepare it for the next crop. Surplus vegetables can be frozen, eaten or given away.

For more tips on individual crops see:

Other useful tips for April and May: